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The 38 Studios epilogue continues with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigating the $75-million loan provided by the state of Rhode Island to the defunct studio. WPRI reports the SEC probe is examining the taxpayer-backed loan the R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC) gave to former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's failed operation.

Neither the SEC nor EDC would comment on the specifics of the investigation. EDC spokesperson Melissa Czerwein told WPRI that lawyers were retained to deal with the SEC inquiry and the organization won't "discuss ongoing matters related to 38 Studios and maintains a level of confidentiality as requested by the SEC."

Rhode Island taxpayers have begun paying back the loan, which Governor Lincoln Chafee (who inherited the debacle from the previous administration) said the State had a "moral obligation" to do. To the best of our knowledge, Rhode Island continues to hold on the Amalur intellectual property.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>38-studiosrhode-islandrhode-island-economic-development-corporationriedcSECsecurities-and-exchange-commissionWed, 11 Sep 2013 12:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/ea-planning-upcoming-layoffs-completed-by-september-30-2012/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/ea-planning-upcoming-layoffs-completed-by-september-30-2012/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/07/ea-planning-upcoming-layoffs-completed-by-september-30-2012/#commentsEA today confirmed plans to enact a "restructuring" among its employees, resulting in an unnamed number of layoffs companywide. The restructuring is part of EA CEO John Riccitiello's move toward digital - an initiative that aims to alter the composition of EA's staff from one in eight engineers to one in two.

The California-based publisher will incur a variety of expenses related to its upcoming plans, to the tune of "approximately $40 million in total costs." Ouch! Making things more painful is the fact that $23 million of that total is planned for "severance and other employee-related costs" - a number that'll be (conveniently) reflected in next year's financials.

As recently as a few weeks ago, EA outright denied reports of upcoming layoffs. Those reports put the number at 5 to 10 percent of EA's workforce, or approximately 500 to 1,000 employees. EA corporate rep Jeff Brown told Joystiq that the restructuring "impacts a relatively small number of EA's 9,000 employees." He added, "Most importantly, EA is hiring and we expect to finish the year with more employees, not fewer."

Update: During EA's financial call this afternoon, the company got more specific on restructuring numbers. Regardless of layoffs, EA expects to grow its current headcount of approximately 9,200 employees to 9,700 by the end of fiscal 2013 (ending March 31, 2013).

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eaelectronic-artsjeff-brownlayoffssecsecurities-and-exchange-commissionMon, 07 May 2012 16:45:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/thq-confirms-layoffs-of-240-employees-across-nine-months/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/thq-confirms-layoffs-of-240-employees-across-nine-months/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/thq-confirms-layoffs-of-240-employees-across-nine-months/#commentsTHQ has confirmed planned layoffs of "up to 240 selling, general and administrative personnel worldwide," with plans to finalize the proceedings by September 30, 2012. The company promises that the "majority" of said layoffs will occur before March 31, 2012 and many of the employees affected have already been notified.

Though the company makes note of the recently announced restructuring away from kids and licensed titles, nothing is mentioned of the rumored cancelation of the Warhammer 40K MMO. We expect to hear even more when THQ announces its fiscal third quarter results tomorrow afternoon.

Update: THQ tells Joystiq that, "These are the cuts we described in our statement last week. No studios are a part of this. It's administration and publishing offices worldwide." The company declined to comment on whether these layoffs will affect any currently announced projects.

Update 2: This post originally stated that THQ would be laying off the 240 employees across nine months, which is inaccurate. Due to varying employment guidelines around the world and internal financial considerations, the restructuring will be completed by September 30, 2012, but most of the affected employees have already been notified.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>layoffssecsecurities-and-exchange-commissionthqWed, 01 Feb 2012 17:47:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/29/zynga-delaying-stock-ipo-due-to-rocky-stock-markets-and-sec-q/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/29/zynga-delaying-stock-ipo-due-to-rocky-stock-markets-and-sec-q/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/29/zynga-delaying-stock-ipo-due-to-rocky-stock-markets-and-sec-q/#comments
Zynga was all revved up to release the initial public offering of its stock, but has had to delay that plan due to market instability and to answer questions from the SEC, according to The New York Post.

The IPO was planned for next month, but the SEC is looking into how the social games company is reporting both its user numbers and revenue, two factors which would obviously greatly influence a stock's performance. Zynga's also citing "the rocky stock markets" as a factor in the delay, which means the IPO will be pushed back to sometime later this year, possibly in November.

Zynga also needed some time to post its performance numbers on all of its friends' walls on Facebook, as well as send out Free Mystery Gifts to everyone on the SEC's ruling board.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>macmobilenew-york-postpcreuterssecurities-and-exchange-commissionstocksuszyngaMon, 29 Aug 2011 21:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/31/fallout-onlines-future-in-doubt-as-interplay-crumbles/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/31/fallout-onlines-future-in-doubt-as-interplay-crumbles/http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/31/fallout-onlines-future-in-doubt-as-interplay-crumbles/#commentsFallout Online and several other Interplay-developed titles may be in serious jeopardy, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission report filed by Interplay last week. Develop discovered the filing, which spells out dire financial concerns for the immediate future of the company. Multiple times, the report states:

"If we do not receive sufficient financing or income we may (i) liquidate assets, (ii) sell the company (iii) seek protection from our creditors including the filing of voluntary bankruptcy or being the subject of involuntary bankruptcy, and/or (iv) continue operations, but incur material harm to our business, operations or financial conditions. These conditions, combined with our historical operating losses and our deficits in stockholders' equity and working capital, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."

Similarly worrying, the company's current cash balance is approximately $3,000 (yes, that's just three thousand dollars, seriously), and it's operating with nearly $2.9 million in debt. The filing also illuminates the company's shift from paying its developers upfront for projects to working on a "net revenue sharing model," where devs get a cut of the final sales rather than paid when their work is complete. While that model sounds hugely profitable for third-party devs, and has been sporadically successful in the movie business, it seems to signal something less than wonderful in Interplay's case.

Additionally, the company's credit agreement has ended, which Interplay says "has resulted in a substantial reduction in the cash available to finance our operations." Rather than assure investors that everything will work out, the company again warns of potential negative outcomes, saying instead, "There can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into a new credit agreement or that if we do enter into a new credit agreement, it will be on terms favorable to us."

Currently, Interplay has five known projects, ranging from a lawsuit-entangled Fallout MMO to a sparsely detailed Earthworm Jim sequel. Several WiiWare and DSiWare projects are also in the works, though the fate of all five games could be grim given the wording of the company's SEC filing.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bankruptcybusinessdsiwareearthworm-jim-4fallout-onlinefinancialinterplaymdk-2pcsecsecurities-and-exchange-commissionwiiwareTue, 31 May 2011 14:50:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/31/nintendo-accounts-for-nearly-25-of-gamestops-new-product-purch/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/31/nintendo-accounts-for-nearly-25-of-gamestops-new-product-purch/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/31/nintendo-accounts-for-nearly-25-of-gamestops-new-product-purch/#comments
Of the many, many games that GameStop sold in 2009 (not to mention the millions of dollars it made), we were left wondering where the lion's share of the game retail juggernaut's capital went in terms of product that the company was actually buying for its stores. And in a recent SEC filing for the last financial year, the company an unsurprising leader: Nintendo took the top spot, with 23 percent of GameStop's "new product purchases" in fiscal year 2009. Sony trailed in second place by only five less points at 17 percent, while MIcrosoft, EA, and Activision picked up 12, 12, and 11 percent (respectively).

The remaining 25 percent presumably belongs to various third party peripherals and game-related items available for sale in the retail chain's stores. That said, while over 41 percent of GameStop's sales come from new products (read: from the vendors listed above) over the 26 percent coming from used game sales, the vast majority of revenue is still very much coming from used game sales, and thusly, the company's number one vendor: you.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionDSeaElectronic-Artsfiscal-year-2009gamestopMicrosoftNintendoprofitsrevenuesecsecurities-and-exchange-commissionWiiXbox-360Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:00:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/30/activision-cfo-thomas-tippl-now-coo/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/30/activision-cfo-thomas-tippl-now-coo/http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/30/activision-cfo-thomas-tippl-now-coo/#comments
Acitvision chief financial officer Thomas Tippl was recently promoted to the position of chief operating officer at the publisher, and will serve double duty as temporary acting CFO while a replacement is found. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission from last week detailed the executive swap (titled the "Tippl Amendment," effective as of March 23), including an $885k annual salary, stock options, an annual raise "at least equal to the average [undisclosed] percentage increase" (pending approval by the board), and a yearly performance-based bonus of "120 percent of his base salary [$1,062,000]."

The wonderfully candid thing about SEC filings is that there's little room for spin or marketing, but the downside is all the financial jargon -- like the fact that part of Tippl's new contract entitles him to a grant of 225,000 "performance shares" that "vest ratably." This means we're put in a position where we're telling you about stuff that is at the least pretty confusing and likely kind of meaningless. So let's break it down!

"Performance shares" are, according to Investopedia, "shares of company stock given to managers only if certain company wide performance criteria are met, such as earnings per share targets." Meaning, in so many words, that Activision has to meet a certain performance level in order for Tippl to earn said shares. That they will "vest ratably" is only to say that on Feb. 15 of each year for the next four years, he will earn part of that eventual 225,000-share goal (in 2014) ... should he stay in his position for all that time, of course. And finally, this is all based on the prediction that he delivers a higher or equal to non-GAAP earning per share when compared to the previous year. In short, he has to either break even or make money to get the stocks, and he has to maintain that for the next four years. Quite a tall order, sir!

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>activisionactivision-blizzardblizzardcfochief-financial-officerchief-operating-officercoofinancesecsec-filingsecurities-and-exchange-commissionthomas-tipplTue, 30 Mar 2010 12:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/09/silver-lining-thq-acquires-40-percent-of-midway-san-diego-emplo/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/09/silver-lining-thq-acquires-40-percent-of-midway-san-diego-emplo/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/09/silver-lining-thq-acquires-40-percent-of-midway-san-diego-emplo/#comments
You've been reading an awful lot about Midway business minutiae over the last six months, so we won't bore you with too many unexciting details about THQ buying Midway's San Diego studio for $200k last week. The most important thing for you to know is that out of 100 employees, 40 have been offered jobs by THQ, and more positions may be opening, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to the SEC filing, the TNA iMPACT! license wasn't part of the deal, a strange omission considering THQ publishes UFC games. The deal is all but finalized, awaiting Midway's bankruptcy court's approval and an agreement between THQ and Warner Bros. over the sharing of certain undisclosed IPs (the terms of which have already been settled). Considering the sad tale surrounding the shuttering of Midway Newcastle, we're glad to finally be writing something somewhat positive in the wake of Midway's collapse.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>businesschicago-tribunekotakumidwaymidway-newcastlemidway-san-diegosecsecurities-and-exchange-commissionthqtna-impactufcufc-unleashedSun, 09 Aug 2009 13:30:00 ESThttp://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/02/take-two-settles-for-3m-over-old-sec-investigation/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/02/take-two-settles-for-3m-over-old-sec-investigation/http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/02/take-two-settles-for-3m-over-old-sec-investigation/#comments
Take-Two has agreed to settle for $3 million in a stock-option backdating scheme conducted by the company over a decade ago -- by folks that were punished and haven't been part of the company in years. Take-Two announced years ago that it would pursue the settlement route, accepting the corporate version of pleading "no contest," as the publisher did not admit nor deny the SEC allegations.

In fairness, Take-Two appears to be a very different company under the muscled shadow of Strauss Zelnick, compared to the darker days of Paul Eibeler. Think of this whole incident like the time your uncle got really drunk at Christmas and ... well, you know. Point is: the family has moved on and tries not to remember that.